Glory to your coming that restored humankind to life. (Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns of the Nativity) Because of the shadows, we miss our brother’s face, our sister’s gaze. The pace of the crowd moves us forward. If you reached out to touch my garment, I would not feel. This power departs us daily:Continue reading “Damascus Road Prayers: Advent 3”
Tag Archives: redemption
Catechism 52
What hope does everlasting life hold for us? It reminds us that this present fallen world is not all there is; soon we will live with and enjoy God forever in the new city, in the new heaven and the new earth, where we will be fully and forever freed from all sin and will inhabit renewed, resurrection bodies in a renewed, restored creation.Continue reading “Catechism 52”
Catechism 26
What else does Christ’s death redeem? Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good. (New City Catechism) Yet the cost went deeper than souls into soil and weathered the tree-trunks and witheredContinue reading “Catechism 26”
Catechism 23
Why must the Redeemer be truly God? That because of his divine nature his obedience and suffering would be perfect and effective; and also that he would be able to bear the righteous anger of God against sin and yet overcome death. (New City Catechism) The price too great to pay ourselves, the heightContinue reading “Catechism 23”
Catechism 21
What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God? One who is truly human and also truly God. (New City Catechism) Can both dwell in one body – God and man, as though torn asunder, the two were somehow reconciled? As far as east is from west:Continue reading “Catechism 21”
Catechism 19
Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favour? Yes, to satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer. (New City Catechism) Yet Eve’s offspringContinue reading “Catechism 19”
Lent 5: First Sunday of Lent
So bones, built to follow, ache When trapped inside guilt’s cave. Tongues, carved to praise, grow numb When, dry and thick with sin, they lie in silence. And hearts, taught to turn upwards in trust, Grow ashen when no light has space to shine. Open, heart. Untangle, tongue. Bones, rejoice. Redemption lightContinue reading “Lent 5: First Sunday of Lent”
Colossians 1
Qualified by grace to share in the light And the kingdom which shines like His chrysolite face, I enter the throne-room, a beggar, no right, While the one spotless lamb hangs in my bleeding place. Unsettled by striving, cast out of the race (Failing to run and nose-diving my flight), I hold the gold laurel,Continue reading “Colossians 1”
Purpose
Before the fact, Before the light, Before the waters and their domes, Before the dust, Before the breath, Before the rib, before the sleep, Before the names, Before the planting, Before the harvest and the fruits, Before the notion, Before the garden, Before the apple and the tree, Before the leaves,Continue reading “Purpose”
12 Poets #1: Justification (After George Herbert’s “Redemption”)
George Herbert wrote around four hundred years ago, but his poetry is still powerfully immediate today. Perhaps it’s the sometimes shocking honesty of his work, perhaps the incredible confidence with which he moves between poetic forms and makes them altogether his own. This is particularly apparent in the handful of sonnets that he wrote. HerbertContinue reading “12 Poets #1: Justification (After George Herbert’s “Redemption”)”
The Consolations of Writing 